Day 1 of cleanse

Shopped organic for everything I need for the cleanse and today is the first day. I don’t have a problem eating raw fruits and veggies but don’t know how my gall bladder will respond to all that fibre. I don’t like the two salads I tried out – one was an avocado/papaya combo and the other was more like a salsa based salad with onions, tomatoes, peppers. So literally the only thing I have eaten since morning is 30 red grapes. I hate the powder that needs to be in the shake so by default I hate the shake. I managed to gulp it down in the morning (have to drink it thrice) but could not get myself to have it again at noon, ended up gagging each time I tried drinking. Swallowing 7 pills at a time seems to make me full enough that I don’t crave any food and so don’t feel like eating at all. How is that good for my system? I don’t know but I will be meeting my chiropractor this evening and boy do I have some questions for her!

Cleansing

So far all is well and it appears that the gallstones have taken a break from troubling me. I have been able to eat a few things I used to eat before the attack and am still careful about the portions I eat. I stay away from fried food like the plague. My visits to my chiropractor are still on. I adjust better for sure and feel a lot like my old self. Am now onto the cleansing stage. My chiropractor thought it best for me to take on a 21 day cleanse that will help flush out my system altogether and then I can train my body to eat healthy again. I am all for it. I have all the supplements I need. I am going to take the next day or two to read through the journal outlining what I can eat, in what quantities and when and then take it on. I plan on using this blog during that time to journal how I do with the cleanse. By no means is this a must try suggestion for anybody with gallstones. Its just my attempt at leading a better life after my gallstone attack.

Ethiopian dinner

Was at home all day today, ate light but we went out for an Ethiopian dinner and I was worried about eating their combo plate which has so many different little vegetarian portions on it. I tried to stay to a few. We ordered a fish gravy but when I found out the pieces of fish in it were actually fried I refrained from eating. Since Saturday was a very busy day for my stomach I decided to play it safe and not load myself with any more to drink or no dessert either. When I felt fairly satisfied I stopped eating and it looks like that pretty much is mantra to not feeling any discomfort.

Busy day for the tummy

Much as I am worried about today I am hoping pushing myself a little bit will help. We are meeting friends for lunch and dinner, something that I would be delighted about usually but with the gallstone issue that is more cause for concern than any pleasure. I have been fine all along since the sessions with my chiropractor and the herbal supplements but there is always this gnawing feeling at the back of my head that the pain will resurge. I did visit my chiropractor today and she said I adjusted well though there is still a lot to be done. I had only a hot chocolate in the morning, since I knew lunch and dinner we going to be pretty heavy. Lunch was at an Indian buffet place. They have so much deliciousness going on its really hard to resist. I just tried to eat small portions, staying away from anything that looked fried. I ate at my own pace and ate what I could. Yes I wasted some food but I know not to force myself with the gallstones. I did try a bunch of different things and was a teeny bit worried but I did not face any discomfort at all. In the evening we were out again to celebrate the wedding of some good friends. They had a german style BBQ going on so I ate just one hot dog and stopped at that. I ate some dessert and did have more wine than I have attempted to almost a month. I was bracing myself for a backlash but nothing! Slept like a baby that night.

Kinda back to normal

So I am beginning to live a pretty normal life now after the great gallstone attack. I did a few things today I might not have before. Actually met a friend for lunch at a restaurant serving Italian food. Of course I stayed safe and ate just soup and dessert but the soup was pretty heavy and I had to be careful to not eat too much at one go. And for dinner I met another friend of mine who made me some pasta and meatballs. I was a little worried I will admit since the meatballs were fried in some oil and then she added some sauteed onions and mushrooms in it too but no side effects from that people so I think I am slowly opening myself up to eating at restaurants and accepting dinner invitations from friends albeit watching what I eat.

BBQ time

Just when I thought summer was going to pass me by without a single invitation to a BBQ outside, a friend called us over fro some grilling action. I stayed away from the corn and the shrimp but I helped myself to some grilled chicken and bun, accompanied by onions and lime for garnish. I also had my first glass of wine in more than 2 weeks, although I added so many ice cubes to it, it was such a diluted version really. I was thinking I might have to stay away from dry BBQ food thanks to the gallstones but looks like that is not an issue at all. I can see life going back to normal!

I did a scavenger hunt…and won!

The few days right after the gallstone attack, I was looking at my calender planning a date for surgery and basically wiping my dates clean of any prior engagements I had set up for at least a month. One of them included the scavenger hunt I did today. I was thinking there was no way I was going to be able to participate and even discussed with my husband that he could consider himself free that day – he was to be my team member. We did it last year together and loved it and learned a lot from it. And then I started the chiropractic / herbal treatment and things began looking up again. So I said to myself if I had no pain, could have some reasonable amount of solid food and could walk for a few hours then I would consider doing the scavenger hunt just for the fun of it. I was not in it to win it any more but I’d sure like to be in it. Since I felt fine last night we decided to go ahead and do the race today. I did have an appointment with my chiropractor in the morning and she was so happy we were doing it. I had some coffee and bread with jam at home and kept some glucose cookies and gatorade as well as water handy for the race. We took our own sweet time figuring out the clues and walked everywhere as I had been warned against running or indulging in anything strenuous for at least a month after the detection of the gallstones. So while everyone else was sprinting around us from one clue to another, we just did our own thing. In fact, towards the latter part of the evening I actually did feel a bit dizzy and had to take a minute to sit down, relax, eat and drink some before I felt fine to go ahead. We checked in at the finish line with some time to spare and chatted with friends and did not even look at the prizes. Last year we did not even make it back in time. This year we did but saw so many people at the finish, we did not think we would win. And then they started calling out the winners and what do you know?? We placed third, out of almost 125 plus teams! To think a week ago, I was considering not participating I rewarded myself with a fat free hot chocolate minus any whipped cream from Starbucks, followed by white rice and chicken penang curry (including broccoli and peppers) from Tin Drum, and the a celebratory non-alcoholic hibiscus champagne drink with friends at Intermezzo. And I did not have any issues sleeping at night